475 girl students taken ill due to chemical leakage in Delhi
HEALTH THREAT Students of two schools complained of breathlessness, irritation in eyes
More than 470 girls from Rani Jhansi School were taken to various hospitals after they had a reaction to a gas leak from a nearby container depot on Saturday morning. The children were taken to ESI hospital — Okhla, Batra hospital, Majeedia hospital and Apollo hospital for treatment.
According to the hospitals, of the 475 affected, 406 students had been discharged by Saturday evening.
After the gas leak, the children had irritation and redness in the eye, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and difficulty in breathing. Some children were unconscious when they reached the hospital.
“The children did not need any specific treatment; we just managed the symptoms and kept them under observation. The gas that had caused the reaction is a compound used for manufacturing fertilisers,” said DR HK Mittal from ESI hospital Okhla, which was the first to receive children from Rani Jhansi School. The hospital received 103 children and three adults.
Five people with existing heart and kidney conditions were referred to Apollo hospital.
The chemical agent involved is likely to be cholo-methyl-pyridine, which is an eye and respiratory irritant, according to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
A multi-speciality team under Dr YK Gupta, head of the department of pharmacology, will visit the site to confirm the agent and monitor the progress of victims.
Union health minister, JP Nadda, asked all central government hospitals to be “ready to help all victims of Delhi gas leak incident.”
Batra hospital received 55 children with complaints of irritation in the eye, headache and mild breathing difficulties.
“Two children, who had breathing difficulties and were taken to the paediatric ICU. The condition of all the children is stable, including the ones in ICU. They have been kept under observation and will be discharged in a few hours,” said a doctor, on condition of anonymity.
According to Indraprastha Apollo hospital, which received 43 patients,“There were 43 patients, 42 children and one adult. They were immediately managed by a multi-disciplinary team. Therapeutic interventions as per clinical requirements were administered. Currently, all patients are in a stable condition.”
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said he has ordered the area district magistrate and SDM to launch a probe.
“There was an exam in the school which we have cancelled following the incident,” he said. Sisodia, who also holds education portfolio, said that he spoke to doctors who told him that all the students were doing fine and were under observation.
Lt Governor Anil Baijal and opposition leader in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta visited the victims at ESI Hospital. Hitting out at the Delhi government, Gupta sought a high-level probe into the incident.
Gupta said it is “negligence on the part of school authorities. At the time of opening the school there were signs of gas leakage. Why didn’t the school authorities stop the students from entering the school?”, he tweeted.
The chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Swati Maliwal, met the children admitted in the Batra hospital and demanded that the contained depot be shifted.
“V sad. It is a man made disaster as no need for Container Depot to be in centre of Delhi. Shud b imm shifted, accountability fixed for gas leak,” she tweeted.